Getting Started

Here's How Much Money You Need to Start a Painting Business‍

In this article, we will look into the detailed cost breakdown for someone who is thinking about starting a painting business. We have provided as detailed a cost breakdown as possible so that you will be well-informed of all the factors involved.

In this article, 

  • We first explain how much it costs to start a painting business from scratch, which is quite a large amount.
  • We then compare that amount to the cost of opening a franchise
  • We then tell you about Hoist, which does everything for you at a fraction of the cost!

Keep reading in detail about all the costs associated with these three options, and then discover how Hoist has stepped in and revolutionized the painting industry– and made it affordable for YOU to become a business owner with less than 10,000$.

Starting a painting business can seem daunting, especially if you are someone with no previous experience in the industry. Like every other business out there, the painting business also relies heavily on relationships and salesmanship. Having the right contacts and bidding on the right estimates can highly influence the financials involved in this business. 

In this article, we will look into the detailed cost breakdown for someone who is thinking about starting a painting business. We have provided as detailed a cost breakdown as possible so that you will be well-informed of all the factors involved.

The various costs involving factors for starting a painting business are:

  1. Registration Charges
  2. Insurance Charges
  3. Brand building Charges
  4. Marketing Charges
  5. Equipment Charges
  6. Hiring Charges

Starting From Scratch

  1. Registration Charges 

These are the first of the many investments that you have to make while starting any business. The first step of any business registration is to have a bank account dedicated solely to your business. You should open a bank account that will require a predefined minimum bank balance, and this usually costs you around 200 dollars

Once the bank account is ready, you can register your company as a Limited Liability Company. This is usually considered a one-time charge and is done to add your business into the right tax slab. By registering as an LLC, you are making your organization bound to the business legalities prevailing in the United States. It will cost you around 200 dollars for the same. 

Now depending on which state you live and work in, you will need to apply for a General Business License and State License. A business license is basically a permit that gives you the authority to operate your business in a particular location. It also indicates that you are legally qualified to run the business. Most of the time, you will need a general license. However, some states call for an industrial license as well. The licenses are renewed annually. Its charges vary from state to state. On average, it costs you around 1,500 - 1,900 dollars annually.  

To sum it up, registration charges will cost you around 1,900 US Dollars annually. 

Registration Charge Category                              Charge (Annually)

Bank Account                                                         $200

Registration                                                            $200

License Charge                                                      $1,900

Total                                  $2,300

  1. Insurance Charges

Business insurance is a must-have for every business owner. Business insurance protects you from losses that can happen in the course of business. Depending upon the nature of the loss, there are many types of business insurance. While some cover property damage, others cover legal liability and employee-related risks. 

For the painting business, general business insurance will do. Like business licenses, business insurance also varies from state to state. However, on an average of 100 dollars monthly, you will be able to have insurance of $1,000,000. It is recommended to consult with an insurance broker to find the right kind of insurance for your business. 

Insurance Charge                                                   Charge (Annually)

General Insurance                                                  $1,200

Total                                          $1,200

  1. Brand Building Charges

Brand building is mandatory for every business. The brand is what makes your business stand out from your competitors. A brand can be described as the “cumulative emotions generated by the consumer” when they hear the name of your business. A brand gives your business its identity and helps you solidify your position in the market. A business without being developed as a brand is like a generic commodity– You’d rather buy name-brand cereal than “generic” oatmeal.

Though proper branding also involves the quality of your service, a larger spectrum of the process can be done through branding tools like logos, banners, stickers, t-shirts, etc. You need to hire a graphic designer to get the logo done. There are websites through which you can design your logo free of cost, but such websites have a lot of limitations. When you are planning to launch a painting business, it is always recommended to keep things professional. A good graphic designer will charge you around 500 to 2,000 dollars for designing a good logo. To have a safe estimate, let’s keep the average logo design charge to be $1,500

Banners featuring your logos are important. Like the logo, some websites will get your banner done for free, but it is always recommended to keep this professional. For designing the banner, a good graphic designer will charge you somewhere between 30 to 50 dollars. Let’s take the average value as 40 dollars. Similarly, for stickers, you will usually be charged around 10 dollars

T-shirt printing is another important branding aspect. To print a “logo imprinted” t-shirt costs around 20 to 30 dollars. Let’s take the average cost as 25 dollars

To sum up, brand building charges will cost you around $1,075

Brand Building Charge                                                   Charge

Logo Design                                                            $1,500

Banner Design                                                         $40

Sticker Design                                                         $10

T-Shirt Printing                                                        $25

Total                                              $1,575

  1. Marketing Charges

This is where many business owners lose their way. No matter how good your services are, you will not flourish in the market if you don’t conduct proper marketing activities. Marketing is the process of getting connected with your potential customers and making them aware of your business and services. Business leads can be generated only through proper marketing. 

There are many ways to do marketing. While conventional marketing methods are more expensive, it is always recommended to start with digital marketing. Digital marketing is the process of marketing your business using online platforms. There are many digital marketing tools like social media marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click ads, etc. 

No matter whatever digital marketing tool you are using, one thing that you need mandatory is a good website. A website is the virtual representation of your office, so you must put your best foot forward. A good website should be engaging, informative, attractive, and easy to navigate. It is important to have a properly designed website. A good website will cost you around 2000 US Dollars to 9,000 US Dollars. On average, let us note down 5,000 dollars for web design. While this is a one-time charge, there will be annual maintenance costs of around 1,000 dollars

Once you have the website ready, you need to do SEO Optimisation. On average, SEO will cost you around 1,000 dollars per month. Along with SEO, you should also do social media marketing for lead generation. On average, a business organization spends around 3,000 dollars for social media marketing monthly. So annually, it will cost you around 24,000 dollars for social media marketing and 12,000 dollars for SEO. 

Summing it up, you will need around 42,000 dollars every year for marketing. 

Marketing Charges                                                         Charges

Website Design Charges                                       $5,000

Website Maintenance Charges                             $1,200

SEO Charges                                                          $12,000

Social Media Marketing Charges                          $36,000

Total                                                                  $53,200

  1. Equipment Charges

There are many ways to do this–you can either buy the equipment for yourself or hire a subcontractor to do the job. When you are hiring a subcontractor, you won’t need to invest anything in equipment as the contractor will be bringing the tools. But to find an ideal subcontractor who charges affordable rates and works efficiently will be a tedious task; if you don’t have the right connections, plus you always run the risk of the subcontractors overcharging and doing a sloppy job. 

Let’s check how much will it cost you if you are planning to purchase the equipment. 

Item                                                                         Charge

Ladders: 8′-12′ and a 28′-32′ sizes.                      $100-$300.

Drop cloths: (At least one drop cloth)                  $20

Brush: (one brush per person)                              $15-$25/brush

Airless Paint Sprayer                                             $250-$1,500

Caulk Gun                                                               $10

5-in-1 Scraper                                                        $10

Wire-brush                                                             $15

Along with this, there are some additional accessories also like rollers, sandpapers, etc. As you can see, on average this equipment will cost you around 2,000 US Dollars

  1. Hiring Charges

Hiring employees for painting jobs can be costly as you need to hire the right talent. Also, an average monthly salary of a painter is around 5,000 US Dollars. This is not a huge expense if you are getting back to back painting job. However, this whole expense can be avoided if you hire a sub-contractor. You don’t need to hire any painters as the contractor will be bringing them. But as mentioned above to find the ideal contractor is a tedious task. If the contractor is no good, then the expenses will be more. 

Now let us see how much you have to spend if you are planning to start a painting business. 

Category                                                                 Charge (annual)

Registration Charge                                               $2,300

Insurance Charge                                                   $1,200

Brand Building Charges                                         $1,075

Marketing Charges                                                $53,200

Equipment Charges                                               $2,000

Hiring Charge                                                        $60,000 (per employee) (You need at least two employees)

Total                                                                          $179,775

Starting a painting business can annually cost you around $179,775

As you can see, a major portion of the investment goes towards marketing and the workforce. You cannot compromise on both these factors, as both of them are crucial for your business. While less marketing means less business, bad employees lead to bad results, which further lead to bad reviews – this is even more detrimental to your business. 

Opening a Franchise:

Instead of starting a business of your own, you can start as a franchise of a popular painting firm. Running a franchise will cost you $150,000. As you can see that you have saved around $30,000 in a franchise model. This is because when you are running a franchise, you are endorsing an existing, popular brand. Also, you get marketing support from the parent organization. 

However, in the franchise model, you need to share a percentage of your revenue. When you are sharing your revenue, you’ll realize that the savings of $30,000 you made are being given away here. So in total, you are not saving much when you plan to go for the franchise model instead of starting a painting business of your own. 

Is there any other way? Yes, the answer is Hoist.

Hoist: A Lucrative Alternate To Franchises

There are more alternatives to the franchise model itself, with Hoist being one such platform. Hoist provides an innovative and enhanced method of owning a painting business for a tenth of the price of a franchise. While there are franchises that charge a low initial fee, the investment needed to actually run the business can start from $150k and go much beyond as well. With Hoist, however, all you need to pay for is a yearly subscription of $8,000, and this covers everything from initial training to marketing materials to customer relationship management and even continuous coaching.

And the icing on the cake? Providing the quickest turnover time for you to set up your business from 0 to live, Hoist takes only 30 days, while most franchises take up to 180 days. 

So, What Else Does Partnering With Hoist Offer? 

We’re glad you asked.

If you want some of the benefits of a self-employed business model without the qualms of a  sole proprietorship, then Hoist is your best offer!

If you want to scale your businesses at your own speed, have complete control over your business, and have no contractual responsibilities, then partnering with Hoist is the ideal business option for you. Our model provides the benefits of a franchise system with nearly none of the cons, allowing you more freedom than conventional franchises. While franchising models might not be ideal for you, Hoist provides a variety of services that are unmatched in the industry. 

At Hoist, we believe that business ownership should be as easy and affordable as possible. Here’s what separates us from franchises:

  • Low investment: Launch your business today with only $8,000. Instead of investing significant sums separately, Hoist offers a low starting investment. We have reduced average franchise setup costs by over 90% so that you can launch your firm with just $667 per month.

Usually, when starting a franchise, You will need to have a specified amount of liquid capital on hand. In addition to this, you'll need enough money to pay setup costs and support the growth of your business. The franchisor will also set additional sales targets for you to meet in order to maintain your position with the company. Your franchise agreement might not be renewed if you don't meet certain sales goals. However, at Hoist, we minimize your additional expenditures by taking care of a number of business necessities, including training, website development, lead generation, finding subcontractors, and more - all for one, flat fee!

 

  • Free training: We offer top-level training on how to grow your business, all included at no extra cost. Hoist also offers 35 to 40 hours of training to help you develop your entrepreneurial skills, and you can choose to complete this course at your own pace.

Traditional franchise training cycles frequently follow a predetermined schedule and are rigid. We can assist you if you feel like you are losing your way in this process. You'll have access to our extensive course collection, discussion boards, and one-on-one coaching to help you.

 

  • Independence: Your business, your rules. When you work with Hoist, you own 100% of the company. You get to choose the rules since it's your business. You will have total control over how the firm is run, unlike a franchise. You are not subject to any of the creative or commercial restrictions of a conventional franchise. Additionally, on your website or in any marketing area, we never bring Hoist into the spotlight. When working with Hoist, you have total creative control over your brand.

 

  • Community: When you subscribe to Hoist, you also subscribe to our vast community of trainers and industry experts. You will receive personalized guidance from a Hoist Coach before you launch your business. These Coaches have direct experience building successful painting companies. We also have weekly sessions that cover topics like sales, production, business planning, and more to ensure you're meeting your goals.

You may be independent with Hoist, but you are never alone!

  

  • Home Field Advantage: At Hoist, we focus on and ensure efficiency! With our Home Field Advantage, you get guaranteed leads, and we turn them into scheduled appointments! We also create, manage, and pay for marketing on your behalf across multiple sources to generate these leads. Our US-based and highly-trained Hoist Agents handle all the calls and texts to schedule estimated appointments right on your calendar, so you can focus on running your business. Hoist also handles your website, online presence, and paid marketing. Paired with our customer relationship management and schedule management tool, these features make handling your sales flow a piece of cake.

Transform your career today

When looking to start a business, it’s good to know that you have various options. Franchising can be an affordable solution, but focus on what you want long term.  Traditional franchise opportunities only enable the proprietary business to be visible; personal or individual brands are not encouraged. If you’ve always dreamed of independence and starting your own business but don't know where to go, go to Hoist. Whether you are a visionary beginner or an experienced professional, we have all that you need to get your entrepreneurial goals soaring. 

We can help you as you work to build a successful business in the profitable and growing painting industry. At Hoist, our priority is growing your brand, not ours. This implies that you are in charge of your company's brand, identity, and every other aspect, but we will support you at every turn. We begin working the moment you become an owner, even before your firm goes online. With everything from training to recruiting support in one place, we ensure that launching and running your business is speedier, more effective, and requires less work from you. 

You can learn how Hoist works here.

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